“Dubai has moved up the ranking in each successive year from 36th place in 2014 highlighting the city’s growing global influence and efforts to boost corporate attraction ahead of Expo 2020,” JLL said in its survey report. The survey focused on evaluating 300 cities that are centered on commercial real estate activity. Already at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge technology into everyday life, Dubai is about to fulfill its vision of becoming the World’s Smartest City by 2021, and ultimately the Happiest City in the world.

In October, Dubai’s status as a regional hub was reaffirmed with the emirate being ranked among the world’s top 25 cities in Global Power City Index 2017 on the back of its strong economy, accessibility and cultural interaction. Released by the Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies, Dubai has been ranked for the first time in the index at No 23 among the 44 cities, surpassing some of the major Western cities such as Barcelona, Boston, Madrid, Vancouver, Washington DC, Geneva among others.

“Dubai may have a relatively low population in comparison to other cities globally, around 2.5 million, but has long punched above its weight,” said Craig Plumb, Head of Research Mena, JLL.

He said Dubai has achieved a true global presence and significant influence and this status is confirmed by Dubai’s place in the world’s Top 30 Cities in our latest Global Cities rankings.. The Top 300 cities covered by JLL now account for 18 per cent of the global population, 40 per cent of the world’s economic output and more than 70 per cent of total global real estate investment. This ranking is assessed on a range of different social, demographic and economic indices that have been combined to provide a score of a city’s overall commercial attractiveness.

The rankings are defined by both people and economic activities in the world’s largest cities over the past 10 years, JLL said.

Dubai has improved its score in office and corporate presence and air passenger arrivals, as the city paves way for becoming the regional hub for both business and leisure travel. Increased corporations are using Dubai as the base for their expansion plans into the Middle East and Africa, while there has also been a growth among Chinese corporates, developers and tourists.

In the Middle East, Dubai has emerged as a top leader in terms of commercial real estate attraction with other cities in the region such as Cairo, ranked at 51 and Muscat, with a ranking of 170 out of the 300 global cities analysed by JLL.

Knight Frank, a leading real estate consultant, said in a recent report that Dubai offers much promise in achieving its goal of becoming the world’s smartest city by 2021, as it is a relatively new city which can integrate this technology as it expands and develops. “This is in contrast to the developed world where change can be slower as the technology has to be retro-fitted into its outdated infrastructure,” said an analyst at Knight Frank.